2 in Karna, 3 in Pune die of swine flu

With two new swine flu deaths reported from Karnataka, the death toll due to H1N1 virus in the state has reached 75, while three more have died in Pune due to the virus, taking the toll in the city to 52, said reports.

In Karnataka, both the deaths were reported from Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) in Bangalore.

While Pushpa, a 28-year-old woman died at RGICD on September 12, 55-year-old Renuka died at the same hospital on September 13.

However, reports confirming that both the victims tested positive for the virus was received only on September 17, a health official said.

Out of 75 death reports, 55 were registered in Bangalore and rest from other parts of the state.

As a part of the ongoing H1N1 virus surveillance programme started in Bangalore by city's municipal corporation Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in association with the health department, around 50 final year students from Bangalore Medical College (BMC) will assist experts.

"This is a mammoth task of visiting people door to door and checking people. We need qualified people to help experts in controlling the epidemic. Students are best suited for the job," said BBMP surveillance officer Manoranjan Hegde.

"The medical students will mostly create awareness about H1N1 influenza in the city. The students will also check for people with flu-like symptoms and provide them medical assistance," he added.

The surveillance will start September 22 and have students in teams of two. They will carry out the survey in K.R. Market and surrounding areas for two to three days.

Meanwhile, 22 more patients tested positive for the H1N1 virus in the state on Thursday. Out of these, 19 were reported from Bangalore, two in Chitradurga and one in Bagalkote.

With this the number of positive cases in the state has reached 829.

Meanwhile, the three who died late on Thursday in Pune in different hospitals were Prabhakar Gawde (38), Naresh Bhatia (35) and Sagar Bhalerao (7), hospital sources said.